


how do i get to heaven

by luvturtles



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Lots of Angst, M/M, Miscarriage (Mentioned), Pining, Swearing, badly used british slang, baker!peter, jily, law student!lily, painter!james, photographer!sirius, professor!emmeline, the black family is the mafia, wolfstar, writer!remus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-08-07 20:19:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7728430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luvturtles/pseuds/luvturtles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on: http://welcometosassland.tumblr.com/post/147680301566/au-where-sirius-is-a-struggling-photographer-who </p><p> (title from HEAVEN by Troye Sivan)</p><p>Sirius is running from his past while holding onto the only thing he can't bear to let go.</p><p>Regulus is trapped and falling in love.</p><p>Remus is sick and desperately wants to finish his novel, god damn it.</p><p>James is chasing his muse no matter what she says.</p><p>Lily can't fall in love, she has to change the world.</p><p>Peter used to bake, he's found other things to occupy his time.</p><p>Emmeline needs this job but she can't stay.</p><p>Marlene just wants her to notice.</p><p>Alice and Frank aren't the perfect couple they seem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Sirius Met Remus

“James, no.” Sirius groaned as he stood in the doorway to the living room of their new, albeit small, flat. “There is no way I’m going to be able to watch the telly with that hideous monstrosity staring at me.” He pointed finger at the painting that was hanging precariously on the wall above his best mate. James looked at the painting, his paint stained hands resting on his hips.  
“’It’ is called Rainbow Werewolf and he is beautiful,” James retorted, glaring at Sirius before running a hand through his wild black hair that was too long to be short but not long enough to be cool (unlike Sirius’s). The painting in question was a snarling wolf colored entirely with every color in the spectrum and in Sirius’s humble opinion it was the worst wolf painting he had ever seen in his entire life.  
“You know this is why I’m paying rent, right? Because nobody wants to buy your hideous paintings,” Sirius said, turning back into the kitchen where the water for pasta was boiling. James appeared in the doorway, paint speckled arms crossed, scowling at the long haired punk pouring two packages of pasta in the dented pot that had somehow survived the trek from London to New York.  
“You know I offered to ask my Mum and Dad…,” James started but Sirius gave him a look.  
“And I told you that we’re grown men and we must be independent of our parents!” Sirius declared as the boiling water spat and burned his bare arm. “Shit!” He swore as James rolled his eyes but cracked a smile. “Plus, it’s not my fault people actually like my art.” Sirius added, turning the burner down on the temperamental stove.  
“One person, Pads. One person buys your prints and it’s your fucking brother,” James retorted, pointing an accusing finger at the shorter boy, “And that’s probably only because he doesn’t want us to starve to death after we pay rent.” Sirius mimicked him with an exaggerated expression as he poured most of the now done (or so he thought) pasta into a warped colander. He grabbed a piece of the pasta and popped it into his mouth, chewed a couple times, and grimaced. “Chinese?” James asked, walking into the living room to get his jacket.  
Sirius spat the pasta into the trash can and made a face, “Fuck yeah, just lemme grab a shirt.” When he returned to the kitchen, now clad in a white Henley and his signature leather jacket, he found James typing furiously at his phone. “Is that your little barista lady?” He asked teasingly, pulling his hair up into a small bun at nape of his neck. James looked up distractedly before mumbling an affirmative accompanied by a discouraged frown.  
“I asked her if she wanted to join us and she threatened to “cut my balls off” if I texted her again. I think I’m in love, Pads,” James explained, his hazel eyes wide and mournful. Sirius snorted softly and wrapped an arm around his best mate’s shoulder with only some difficulty because of the height difference.  
“Come on then lover boy, I think Chinese can wait. There’s a pub down the street that’s just waiting for Prongs and his mate Padfoot.” James looked at Sirius with the same expression still on his face.  
“Yeah? I suppose a few drinks couldn’t hurt,” James concedes, allowing the shorter of the two to lead him out the door and down the stairs to the street.  
Sirius woke up to the feeling of a warm body next to his and breath soft on his shoulder. His arm was asleep and as he began to gain more awareness, he realized it was because there was a person laying on it. He opened his eyes finally and looked down to see a pretty little thing curled against his side with her head resting on the apex of his shoulder right over his tattoo of the constellation containing his namesake. His mind frantically searched for a name and “Jolene” came to mind but he was sure that was a song. Finally a memory of him talking up this same girl after being turned down by a too sober college boy. Emmeline, her name was he decided, had loved his “I’m a photographer…” line and he remembered liking her smile, shy but inviting his advances.  
Unfortunately, he would have to wake her up before James got up and gave him a lecture after making her as uncomfortable as possible until she left. James didn’t approve of Sirius’s escapades, the romantic shit he was. James may be an asshole sometimes but he was one of the sappiest blokes Sirius knew, going on about how his soul mate was out there somewhere waiting (which sounded like bullshit to Sirius).  
The girl at his side stirred and her eyes fluttered open revealing soft brown eyes. The thought was banished as he looked at flushed face as she shyly sat up and looked down at him. “I have to go before my roommate starts worrying.” She says softly, leaning down over him before pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. “Last night was fun but I’m not naïve enough to expect a call.” She smiled down at him before sliding off his bed and walking…no sauntering…to where her clothes had been scattered around his small room. He leaned on his arm as he watched her, well her ass, as she dressed. He stood as she tugged her dress on and kissed her shoulder as he zipped up the back. She turned her head and smiled at him.  
“I’ll walk you to the door, Emmeline,” his purposeful use of her name brought a smile to her lips as she waiting for him to tug on sweatpants and lead her to the door. There they exchanged another brief kiss before she walked through the door, a “see you never” casually tossed over her shoulder at him as she slipped into the industrial elevator that would take her away.  
Sirius closed the door and walked back into his room and surveyed the small space. The walls were scattered with prints of his pictures, mainly portraits of people he found interesting but some cityscapes taken from the room of their building mixed in. More prints, these ones Polaroid’s, were scattered across his makeshift desk shoved into the farthest corner of the room mixed in amongst camera equipment bought with the help of his brother or gifted from the Potters or his favorite cousins who don’t hate him. With a sigh he gathered up clean-ish clothes and disappeared into the tiny bathroom tucked next between the kitchen and the front door.  
Emerging from his room an hour and a half later with his camera slung over his shoulder as he pulled long curls back from his face. He had yet to see James but his messages showed that his best mate had managed to get home by himself late last night. Sirius stopped and stared at that god awful wolf painting before shaking his head and walking out the door.  
He walked down the street, his grey eyes sweeping the busy and loud streets of New York where him and James had decided to make their home. Coming here had been one of their only options after they had finished school in England, especially when the pack of hyenas Sirius had to call family wanted so desperately for him to go to Uni and follow in the footsteps of his male predecessors and the family business. So he and James had run away to America where only James’s parents, his cousin Andi, and their old school roommate Peter, knew where they were. Sure they were broke as fuck and Sirius’s brother was the only reason they could afford rent, but they were free here.  
Sirius almost missed it and if he hadn’t almost been run over by a love struck couple entering the corner shop from the opposite direction, he certainly wouldn’t have stopped and saw the interior through the window. So he followed the couple into the shop boasting the name “Marauder” in bold but curling script across the door. Inside, he was a bit overwhelmed by what he saw.  
The store was a mess of organized chaos. A coffee bar was located directly in front of him complete with chalkboard menu boards, exposed red brick, and a dark wooden counter in front of which the couple form before were ordering, arms linked. All around the bar were bookcases, huge bookcases filled with books of all shapes and sizes. The book cases were all different too, some taller or wider or a different wood but it all seemed to just work in the space. On the walls along with bookcases there were framed pictures similar to the ones he had at home except the frames were almost mismatched and some of the pictures were hung slightly crooked giving the whole place a quirky vibe.  
“Are you going to order or are you just going to stand there all day, photographer boy?” A clear voice made Sirius look away and at the barista who was leaning forward on the counter, looking at him expectantly. Her hair was a vibrant red that was pulled back in a style that he recognized from the new Star Wars movie and her eyes were bright green set off even more by the kohl ringing her eyes. As he approached the counter she straightened and he saw that her shirt proclaimed “Girls Do Not Dress For Boys” and her fingers were decorated with what looked like at least a dozen rings of varying styles. “You look like a macchiato man,” She said, tilting her head to look at him and pursing her lips. “Or something stupidly fancy.”  
Sirius chuckled, “Actually not much of a coffee person.” He looked at the menu briefly, “I’ll take a large iced Chai.” The redhead, who’s name tag attached to her shorts said Lily, looked at him with eyebrows raised before shaking her head and typing his order into the cash register.  
“Marlene’ll have it out in a minute,” she said, tilting her head in the direction of the curvy blonde he hadn’t noticed before. Sirius pulled his wallet form his pocket and went to pull out a five when Lily stopped him. “It’s on the house,” she said, crossing her slender arms. He shrugged and put the five in the tip jar decorated with a wolf that vaguely reminded him of the one hanging in his living room.  
“Can I take pictures in here?” He asked, looking back at the woman who was looking at him with a weird expression.  
She nodded after a moment, “Of course, just tag us if you post it anywhere or give us a copy to add to the others.” She pointed at the ones on the wall that he had seen when he had come in. He nodded, noting that the pictures did indeed appear to be from places he could see around the store. With another smile and a “thank you” accompanied with a flirtatious smile that made Lily give him a look similar to the one his cousin Cissa would give him when he teased her about her fiancé. He chuckled as he walked into the maze of bookcases. “Don’t forget to come back for your drink.” Was all Lily said before he turned a corner and the coffee bar was completely hidden from view.  
He was surrounded by books, dust, and the lingering smell of freshly brewed coffee. He wondered what he must look like standing in the midst of these books in his leather jacket, skinny jeans, and a shirt from the heavy metal band Azkaban. Of course, add in the tattoos covering most of his arms and pieces of his chest and back and he was a fucking anomaly. As an afterthought, he wondered what Lily had thought of him when he had ordered a chai.  
As he rounded another corner, he noticed how quiet it was, even though he could faintly hear strains of a classical music piece. He recognized the piece almost immediately, a result of his mother’s version of education when he was young, and followed the sound until he passed a bookcase and there in front of him and a bit to the left there was a man. This man, however, was in a peculiar position practically wedged between to bookcases seeing as even sitting down Sirius could tell the man was taller than him.  
This particular man also looked like he belonged in a store like this one. He had a too big, chunky blue sweater which only accentuated his pale skin. His hair was cut in a popular style where the longer bits on top sort of flopped over and curled though this man’s looked like his fingers had been running through it. Faint freckles dotted his nose where a pair of lens were perched making the man look very much like a teacher Sirius would have crushed on back at school. On his lap there was a huge novel that the man was currently absorbed in a half empty shelf beside him, a computer sat open to a text document. Lastly, there was a cup of hot liquid in the man’s hands that appeared to be from the shop they were in.  
Sirius, remembering the camera around his neck, slowly turned it on and held it up to his eye. He focused, adjusting a few settings for the lighting, and held down the shutter button. A faint click gave him away and he lowered the camera in time to see the man look up at him with wide green eyes though instead of the vibrant green that Lily’s had, this green reminded Sirius of the sea near his childhood home in England; wild and tumultuous. The two men stared at each other for a moment before the other spoke, tilting his head to look at Sirius better.  
“Do I get to see it?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Lily Met Remus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is shorter and i apologize in advance.

“Lily, we need to talk about your life choices,” Marlene stood with her hands on her hips where the black barista apron cinched around her impressively small waist and flared out in the full glory of her hourglass figure. Her blonde hair was pulled up under a bright red bandana, the shade of which matched the lipstick on her cupid bow lips, currently pulled down in a frown directed at Lily, below dark blue eyes that were also fixed on the shorter woman.  
“And what choices could you possibly be referring to?” Lily replied, distractedly, her tongue appearing between her teeth as she went back and forth between making Remus’s hot chocolate and the I-Think-I’m-Punk-Rock guy who ordered the chai. He wouldn’t know punk rock if it kicked him in the ass.  
“I think you know which choices I am referring to, Lils,” Marlene stated flatly, now leaning against the counter of the bar, her tattoo covered arms crossed over her ample bosom. “The one where you told off a perfectly good bloke purely because he told you he was a painter. John? Jacob? No, James.”  
Lily sighed and stopped putting whipped cream on the hot chocolate, turning to face her best friend and roommate, keeping her infamous look of disinterest on her face. “Painters don’t make any money, Mickey.” She said, setting the container down on the counter beside her.  
Her best friend huffed, “I’m not saying marry the man, Lils. I’m saying entertain the idea of letting him take you out. When was the last time you even went out on a date? Last year? You can’t just live your life sitting on the couch watching horror movies and America’s Next Top Model reruns or standing here making coffee for the same fifty people that cycle through here or studying for your damned Bar exam even though it’s years away.”  
Lily narrowed her eyes at the taller girl and scowled, faint pink dots appearing on her cheeks as she wiped off the counter around the mug as a sort of evasion. She turned back toward her friend, “I don’t want to go out with him because I’m afraid I might fall in love with him.” She said quietly, picking at a thread on her shredded shorts. It sounded ridiculous even as she said it, her face flushed pink.  
“And I know that sounds stupid and you’re going to say ‘Lily you don’t even know the man!’ but Mick, He’s cocky as fuck and a foot taller than me and doesn’t know who Gloria Steinem is and hasn’t a cent to his name but he’s also ambitious and when he smiles I get this weird feeling in my stomach and he replies to my rants….”  
She stopped but wouldn’t meet her friend’s eye, instead looking at the whipped cream. “He isn’t in my life plan. Better to chase him off now then let him close and have him mess up everything I’ve planned.”  
Lily watched her best friend shake her head before her attention was taken by the couple at the counter. They were new regulars to the café and had been schoolmates with her and Lily back in the day though they hadn’t seen much of them since then except in pictures until a few months ago.  
Alice was slender with some reprieve in the places where it counted and long brown hair that set off her soft brown eyes. Frank was similar with, dark hair and light blue eyes that had a distinct sparkle in them whenever he was with Alice. It was endearing, sort of except for the part where they were basically codependent on one another.  
“Are you coming to our party tonight, Mar?” Alice asked, leaning against the counter while Frank stood at her side, an arm around her waist. “And you too, of course, Lily,” She added, flashing a smile at the red head as the latter snapped the lid on the chair she had finally managed to finish.  
Lily watched Frank nuzzle Alice’s hair before replying, “We’ll see,” and taking the chai to the pickup counter. She realized then that she had no idea what I-Think-I’m-Punk-Rock guy’s actual name was.  
“Fuck,” She mumbled before just sitting the drink down on the counter anyways, wasn’t her problem if he didn’t come back. Instead she turned and grabbed the huge mug of hot chocolate with extra whipped cream she had made for Remus.  
“Cover me, Mickey.” She said over her shoulder as she carried the mug with both hands into the maze of books beyond the counter.  
Of course, she knew her way around so it didn’t take her long to find his usual spot, between the atlases and books about people long dead but to her surprise, he wasn’t alone. Even before she saw them she could hear two voices beyond the bookshelf labeled “Mythology” and it made her pause.  
It wasn’t like people didn’t find Remus, people stumbled across the gangly writer all the time. However, it was rare for him to talk to any of them and even them it was more out of quiet politeness than anything else.  
Hell, it had been months before he had said more to her then “Hot chocolate, extra chocolate and whipped cream, please” and even then it was to add, “And a brownie, please.”  
The first time they had even had an actual conversation was when he hadn’t come in for several weeks. Remus had walked into the café looking more peaked then usual and his legs seemed like they were going to give out under the weight of just him and his laptop which was clutched to his chest instead of in its usual satchel  
Lily had been the only one at the counter then and had been distracted by the bangs she had decided she had needed to have that fell to just below her eyebrows. Thinking back now, she wasn’t really sure what she had been thinking.  
“Remus!” She had exclaimed, immediately turning towards the exhausted man. To her surprise, Remus had responded by smiling softly and saying her name even though the effort seemed to drain him further.  
Lily, being the unfiltered person she was, told him to shut up and sit the fuck down on that weird looking chair while she made his usual. Remus had complied without objection and had practically collapsed in the chair she had pointed out, his laptop still clutched to his chest and his brown curls in disarray across his forehead.  
Once her other co-worker had arrived, she had left them and sat with Remus and they had talked, well she had talked and he had listened, his hazel eyes alert as she rambled about one thing or another.  
That became their routine, Remus contributing to the conversation after a while, until the day when he had come in with a wild look in his eye and a declaration that he was going to write another book before disappearing into the maze to his spot. The same spot where she could now hear two male voices, Remus and I-Think-I’m-Punk-Rock guy.  
“Do I get to see it?”  
“I—of course.”  
“Oh, look. You’ve managed to make the bags under my eyes disappear.”  
There was a soft huff that Lily guessed must have been I-Think-I’m-Punk-Rock guy laughing.  
“I think all these books must be going to your head, I don’t see any bags. You look just fine.”  
“’Just fine?’ You don’t think maybe I’m more of a ‘tragically handsome’ then a “just fine’”  
“I wouldn’t say tragically handsome...”  
Lily was rolling her eyes at this point even though she had never heard Remus talk this way with anyone let alone a guy. Honestly had never even considered the possibility, not that it mattered, more like she had separated her Remus from the rest of the world.  
“Remus Lupin.”  
Lily could hear the smile in his voice and it made her smile softly in spite of herself.  
“Sirius Black, pleasure to meet you.”  
“So polite, certainly you can’t be British.”  
“Ah, that is a story I only divulge after the seventh date.”  
“I see…well I guess we have a few to go then.”  
Her hands were starting to hurt from the hot mug in her hands so she backtracked a little and started towards the spot again. “Remus?” She called, announcing her presence before turning the corner of the bookshelf and revealing herself.  
Before her was a standing Remus leaning against the bookshelf of atlases, facing an uncomfortable looking Sirius (she supposed she couldn’t call him ‘I-Think-I’m-Punk-Rock guy’ anymore) who was standing near the bookshelf with books about dead people, his camera in hand. She eyed him as she walked towards Remus.  
As she approached, she noticed that she was shorter than both of the men but Remus was the tallest though at the moment he was slouching giving the illusion that maybe he wasn’t a giant compared to the other two.  
She handed the hot cut to Remus who made an appreciative noise before looking up at Sirius who was watching the both of them. “I love chocolate, by the way.” He said, holding the cup in such a way that made it look like he was trying to absorb it’s heat even though he was wearing a thick sweater and the heater was on.  
He was always wearing sweaters or sweatshirts, she had noticed a while back. No matter the weather he would always come wearing his sweaters and either jeans or a pair of old school sweatpants though she could never make out the name of the school on the side. It had always seemed peculiar, just as it did now even if the weather outside was positively awful.  
Her phone chose that moment to buzz and she quickly pulled it out to see a text from Marlene to ‘get her ass back to the register before the lunch crowd started attacking’. She sighed before smiling at the two men and heading back towards the register. When she heard voices, she paused.  
“I absolutely hate Chinese food.”  
There was a pause and Lily frowned, ready to go beat up that little punk wannabe for hurting Remus’s feelings.  
“Italian then?”  
“Are you cooking?”  
“Oh, god no. I wouldn’t want to kill you on the first date.”  
Lily heard a husky laugh and realized, to her surprise, that it was Remus.  
“I'm serious. I—“  
“I know you are, that’s what you said.”  
“I—Did you just?”  
“I couldn’t help it, I’m sorry.”  
“No, it’s just usually it’s me making those jokes.”  
“Well make room, my good sir because there’s more where that came from.”  
“I’m starting to wonder if this date is such a good idea.”  
“Don’t forget, Sirius dear, we have to get to at least number seven.”  
Lily, having decided that Mr. Sirius Black was indeed harmless to her Remus, shook her head before heading towards the counter where a frazzled Marlene and an anxious lunch crowd awaited.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Regulus Left England

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey-o.
> 
> This chapter took way to long to write considering how short it is. It's actually kind of sad how short this chapter is. 
> 
> Though I would like to point out HOW FREAKING HARD IT IS TO WRITE REGULUS BLACK OKAY BECAUSE LIKE actually I don't even know why I just had a really hard time with it.
> 
> So again, I apologize for this extremely short chapter and hopefully the next ones are this fucking short. -_-

Regulus Black paced when he was anxious. It was a habit he had developed as a child during the long waits for his brother after he had disappeared behind the large oak doors of his father’s study. Minutes would turn into hours and still Regulus would pace, unflinching at the noises that would drift through the cracks under the door that he had heard for as long as he could remember. His pacing would stop only after his older brother would emerge from behind those doors in a half conscious state, barely able to register Regulus’s presence as the younger would walk his older sibling to his room, the Rules keeping him from offering aid of any other sort. 

Now, Regulus paced for a different reason. He was inside the oak doors now, pacing on the fine Oriental carpet that covered a large portion of the dark room and adding a odd musky smell to the air. To his left large bay windows looked down over the carefully manicured gardens of the ancestral House of Black. Large rivulets of water raced down the window accompanied by the consistent drum of the droplets on the roof that threatened to lull the stiff backed young man to sleep. It was early in the morning according to the clock over the mantelpiece to his right but he wasn’t surprised when there was a knock at the door and the gaunt face of the Blacks’ butler, Kreach came into his field of vision.

Regulus couldn’t remember a day where the short man, with skin that seemed to be almost translucent in certain lights and dark thinning hair that started in a severe widow’s peak at his forehead, hadn’t been there. The old man had been there during all the hardest times of Regulus’s life and he would go even farther to say that the man in the doorway had been even more of a father than Orion Black had ever been.

“Master Black, Master and Miss Carrow are here to see you,” Kreach rasped, his dark eyes still sharp as they looked at their young master.  
“Let them in,” Regulus as he tucked his hands into the pockets of his trousers, half wishing he didn’t look so disheveled. He looked contemplatively at his discarded jacket and tie that lay haphazardly across a green velvet chair only to see that they had been claimed by the house cat, Nigellus, thus having been covered in grey cat hair. Regulus frowned at his mother’s cat before the door opened again and the twins walked through.

Amycus and Alecto Carrow were a peculiar duo to say the very least. Amycus was short and broad shouldered, his pale skin contrasting sharply with the short strands of blood red hair that crowned his head. Alecto, by contrast, was slim shouldered and very curvy everywhere on her equally short frame. She has the same pale skin and hair as her brother but hers fell in ringlets around her shoulders framing a round face and grey-blue eyes the twins shared.

“Regulus!” Alecto exclaimed, her thin lips stretching into a smile that looked unnatural on her sharp face. Regulus suppressed a shudder as her spidery fingers gripped his shoulder tightly and she planted a kiss on his cheek. He could have sworn he heard her inhaling deeply as she did so. As she stepped away he stepped away as politely as he could and walked to where Amycus was already pouring bourbon from a glass decanter into glasses.

“What brings you here so early in the morning?” Regulus asked, taking a filled glass and swallowing a copious amount in one go, discretely hiding the wince from the scent that overwhelmed his senses. The sharp scent combined with the sickly sweet taste lingering on his tongue sent him reeling into an ocean of memories. It was his father that had preferred the taste of bourbon, his father who was so sick he didn’t even recognize his own son. His father who used to yell and scream at his mother who would yell and scream right back. His father who still yelled and screamed but in unintelligible gibberish that the rest of the household had just gotten used to.

“Regulus?” Alecto’s face came into focus and Regulus blinked before smiling politely out of habit.

“I’m sorry, I must have zoned out. I haven’t been sleeping very well.” 

Alecto made a noise of sympathy while Amycus replied, “S’all right, Reg, was just saying we found a prime piece of business in New York like you wanted. We was thinking about flying there ourselves if you was wantin’ us to.”

Regulus’s brow furrowed as he wandered over to the windows where rivulets of water still trailed down the windows. Sirius was in New York, at least that’s where the money he wired was withdrawn. His older brother had fled when he had had the chance and Regulus had been left to pick up the shredded pieces. He didn’t resent his brother, however. No, he understood why his older brother, who had never agreed with the practices involved with the family business, had fled to America with that friend of his, John Parish or something, to be free. The thought of sending the Carrow twins to the same city as his brother, someone who had a figurative target on his back, made him both sick and angry. 

“No,” he heard himself say in the tone of finality he had inherited from his mother, “I’ll go there myself. Kreach can take care of my parents and Bartemius can handle business here while I’m gone. It will only be a few weeks at most. I trust you two to behave yourselves and keep your faces out of the media considering Narcissa is still dealing with the last incident” He turned away from the window and was sure he saw a fleeting look of disappointment on Amycus’s face. 

“Don’t you need someone to travel with?” Alecto inquired, her voice as sickly sweet as the bourbon making Regulus feel a bit queasy. 

“No, I’ll go by myself. It will be easier to stay under the radar of the Aurors until we can establish ourselves. Now, where is the details on this piece of property?” ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
“Would you like another scotch, Mr. Black?” 

Regulus started and looked up at the sweet faced flight attendant, a polite smile automatically crossing his face. He shook his head in response before returning to the file on the tray table in front of him, effectively dismissing the woman. He faintly heard the tapping of her heels on the carpet of first class as she moved on to the man in front of him. He knew he had probably been a little rude but considering she had also woke him up from the nap he had tried to take earlier to tell him she needed to run his card through the machine again, he felt slightly better about it.

On the top of the file was a picture of a red brick building that according to the other papers spread around the tray, only had one tenant. He stared at the picture longer before moving his gaze to the document he had placed beside it. The business that occupied the ground level part of the building was called “Marauder” and the current owner, a Mr. Snape, was willing to sell for a price Regulus was sure was a gross exaggeration of the building’s actual worth. He shuffled the papers around and pulled the pictures of the upstairs, comparing them to the last building inspection dated a couple years back. Water damage, possible rodent infestation, the list was ridiculous. He was surprised the building hadn’t been condemned or something. 

Regulus shoved the papers into the folder and leaned back into the plush seat, looking out the window to his right. He could see the outlines of the approaching land and it made him clench his fingers around the armrest. The inevitable landing would bring with it the calls that came and demanded to be answered whether he wanted to or not. He couldn’t complain much though considering his cousin Narcissa only forwarded the most important ones anyways.

Of course there would be one from his mother who had probably left a voicemail informing him of his father’s prognosis before passive aggressively implying that if he didn’t land this deal she would not be pleased unless she had gotten into the wine and then it would be a less then passive implication. The next one would probably be Cissa giving him the report on affairs back in England that Bartemius would have forgotten about. The rest would be unimportant and probably left until Cissa forced him to return them.

“Ladies and gentlemen we have begun our descent into New York City.” The pilot’s voice rang through the cabin drawing Regulus’s attention back to his surroundings.  
Regulus looked away from the window and around at the cabin once again. The flight attendants were bustling up and down the aisles, taking glasses and making sure the people who needed immigration cards had them. He gathered up the file on the table and slid it into the satchel at his feet before looking back out the window, brushing a dark curl behind his ear as he did so. The city below was stunning and as they descended he could see the famous Lady Liberty.  
So this was the city his brother had fled to, this monstrosity of skyscrapers and lights that shown through the approaching dawn was his brother’s haven. Regulus rubbed a hand along his stubbly cheek and stifled a yawn. He would go see the property tomorrow, at the moment he just wanted to go to his hotel and sleep. 

His stomach flipped, partially because of the plane’s descent and partially because for the first time in four years he was going to be in the same country as his brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo that's that.
> 
> I would like to note that in the first chapter with Sirius, I mixed up Emmeline and Marlene so at some point I am going to go back and fix that but for now I would like to clarify that Emmeline is not blonde and blue-eyed and white but a dark skinned, dark eyed, and curly haired cinnamon roll.
> 
> Thank you.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The One With A Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has not been read by a Beta because I haven't found one yet. Yay.
> 
> Also this chapter was originally supposed to be Sirius. Oops.
> 
> Shout out to K for helping with Marlene's backstory.
> 
> Also shout out to Hamilton for serenading me as I finished the last couple hundred words.
> 
> Oh and, side note, I feel like I'm formatting this wrong so if anyone wants to help that would be beautiful.

“Lily, what the fuck are you still doing in your work clothes?” Marlene’s voice made Lily look up slowly from where she was doing her reading for a class. She blinked at the blonde who was looking at her expectantly before looking down at her clothes.  
“I was too lazy to put on pajamas…?” Lily replied slowly, looking back up at her friend who huffed. She tried to remember what could possibly be so important that Mar had left her post  
“Well you better change quickly, Alice and Frank’s party is in two hours. Even Em is already dressed,” Marlene said, “Wear something besides a t-shirt and jeans.”  
Lily watched her friend turn on her heel and walk down the hall before she groaned and fell back against the soft blankets of her bed. It was tempting to just “accidentally” fall asleep but she knew that if she did, Marlene would definitely not be happy.  
She hadn’t known Marlene for long but from the several years that the two had been roommates—all through college until now—she had learned and experienced enough to know that her best friend was a piece of work. To be completely honest with herself, she knew that if Marlene didn’t hound her like a good mom friend should, she would never stop studying to relax and for that she could deal with the cigarette trays in the living room and balcony.  
Her phone chimed twice in quick succession in the text tone she had set for Remus. She reached for it as she sat up and closed her book, tossing it to the side with more care than she would have liked. Lily reached over for it as she slid off her bed and padded softly across the room to her closet.  
From Moon-Moon: Lily, I have a problem.  
From Moon-Moon: Lily, I am freaking out.  
Lily chuckled despite herself, leave it to Remus to use proper punctuation even in distress.  
To Moon-Moon: Wots wrong, Moonboy?  
As she waited for a reply, she leafed through her wardrobe, frowning when she found a dress that Marlene had most definitely tucked in there without her knowing. She turned and flung it on her bed as her phone chimed multiple times again.  
From Moon-Moon: I said “yes” to a date, Lily, a date.  
From Moon-Moon: He wants to get Italian food.  
From Moon-Moon: Does that mean pizza or pasta?  
From Moon-Moon: Lily, I cannot do this.  
From Moon-Moon: What am I even supposed to wear?  
Lily stared at the texts before going to the contact and tapping the call button. She tucked the phone between her shoulder and her ear, continuing her quest through her closet.  
“I’m looking through my clothes right now and all I have are sweaters and Star Wars t-shirts from Em.”  
Lily snorted, coughing into her elbow in an effort to mask it as she tugged her leather jacket off its hanger with her free hand.  
“It can’t be that bad, Rem.” She replied finally, putting the phone on speaker as she tugged her work clothes off. “Wear the grey sweater Em gave you for Christmas last year.”  
As Lily worked her way into the short grey number that Mar had picked as Remus replied.  
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. I think it’s here somewhere…ah, there it is,” she heard him say as she worked up the zipper of her dress as best as she could. She smiled fondly at his commentary and the soft thump that accompanied his words that could only have been Remus hitting a body part on the open drawer considering the expletive that accompanied it.  
“So who’s the lucky guy?” Lily inquired, taking the phone with her into the bathroom that was situated between hers and Em’s rooms. She could hear Em and Marlene talking loudly down the hall and paused in the hall, shushing Remus before he could reply.  
“Have you eaten anything besides cake this whole week, Em?”  
“It’s only Wednesday and yes, I have. I ate a whole carton of ice cream while writing my journal on Canis Major.”  
“This isn’t healthy, Em. You need to eat the food I make for you and Lily.”  
“We aren’t some surrogates for your soldiers, Marlene.”  
Lily hissed quietly through her teeth before slipping into the bathroom and closing the door loudly behind her. “Sorry, Rem,” she set the phone down on the counter and frowned at her reflection in the mirror before opening a drawer and digging around in it.  
“Hm? Oh yeah. He’s shorter than me, I think, with, uh, kinda long black hair. His face is nice to look at and I think he’s actually a professional photographer.”  
Lily stopped in her reapplication of eyeliner and looked at her phone, “Was he at the café earlier?”  
There was the sound of rustling and a crash as, what Lily could only assume was the phone, fell to the floor. “Sorry and yeah, he was. His name is Sirius Black and his accent made all my common sense fly out the window,” there was silence and then he spoke again, this time in timid voice, “Lily, I shouldn’t be doing this.”  
The tone of his voice made her heart twinge and Lily sighed as she reapplied her lipstick and undid the buns in her hair, “What does Mama Lupin say?” She asked finally, running a comb through the mess on her head.  
“She was so excited, Lils.” Remus sighed over the phone and Lily let her arms fall to her sides as she stared at her reflection, trying to think of something to say. “I tried telling her why it wasn’t a good reason, namely the one where I could literally drop dead in the middle of the street, and, well, you know how she gets.”  
She did. It wasn’t hard to understand why Remus’s mom would be so excited for him. Lily hadn’t learned about his illness until a couple months ago when he had nearly collapsed on his way to his regular place in the café and even then Remus hadn’t given her any details, just mentioning his heart and a experimental treatment study that was “taking his energy from him.” When she had gone to their home for dinner one night, she had seen the way the illness had taken its toll on all of them. How his parents looked at him with such love but also concern. They had been so excited to meet her that she had wondered when the last time Remus had brought home friend had been.  
“It’s gotten worse.” She said it like a statement because she didn’t need to ask. All the sweaters, the shivering, and the dizzy spells that sometimes lasted a while.  
There was silence from the phone and she looked down at her phone to make sure he was still on the line.  
“Moon—?”  
“My mother is taking me to the heart transplant center for an assessment on Friday. My doctor says the treatment isn’t working the way they had hoped and this is basically my only option left.”  
Lily stared at the phone before picking it up and taking it off speaker as she pressed it to her ear, “Remus, you’re going to find a donor,” she heard him scoff on the other end, “I’m serious. You are going to grow old and adopt cute little kids and write lots of books and be a grouchy old man who chases little kids off his lawn.”  
She heard him huff and knew she had managed to make him smile. “I’m not kidding, Rem. You aren’t allowed to die before me, promise?”  
“Yeah, yeah.”  
“Okay well I have to go before Mar starts banging down the door. Have fun with Mr. I-Think-I’m-Punk-Rock.”  
Remus laughed then and Lily smiled to herself, her mission accomplished.  
“Okay, Lils, I have to go anyways. Bye.”  
“Bye, Moon-Moon.”  
Lily stood there a second longer as the phone went quiet, just thinking. Thinking about Remus, about Emmeline and Marlene’s conversation, and about the reading she still had waiting for her.  
There were two short thumps on the bathroom door before it opened and Lily stood face to face with Marlene who looked exasperated. “Oh my god, Lily Joy Evans hurry the fuck up, god damn it.”  
Lily rolled her eyes, pushing past the other girl and into her room. “I’m almost ready. Is Em?”  
Marlene stood in the doorway of her room, her arms crossed over her chest. Her lips were pursed and the line between her eyebrows was prominent as it always was when she was stressed.  
“Em isn’t coming, Lovegood just called her in because of some breakthrough he apparently made.”  
“I’m surprised that old bastard even knows which way to point his telescope nevertheless actually find anything,” Lily muttered, sliding her feet into boots and grabbing her jacket. She turned back to Marlene and gave her an overenthusiastic smile. “Let’s go endure hipster hell!”  
An hour later, Lily found herself sitting on a worn, overstuffed couch surrounded by too many pillows and starving. All around her were people she didn’t know or didn’t particularly care to talk to except for the ones who weren’t deterred by her resting bitch face. Her mood may have also been partially contributed to the fact that Severus had been invited too.  
Lily had been childhood friends with Severus Snape but when they had gotten older, she had realized that what she thought was platonic displays of affection were actually a sort of pining. She had been mildly horrified to say the least and her quest to effectively friend zone him. This was partly because she was a raging feminist dragon and he was a misogynistic asshole and partly because of the whole pining turned possessive thing that was frankly kind of creepy.  
Yet, there he was in all of his dreadlocked glory. She couldn’t avoid him all the time, she did work in the coffee shop he owned but only because she was a broke law student and it paid well. Luckily, when he did notice her, she was saved by Marlene who swooped in with a bottle of organic beer in each hand.  
“Who knew Alice and Frank knew this many people? Am I right?” Lily joked, taking one of the bottles from her blonde friend and immediately taking a large gulp.  
Marlene looked at her for a second before looking in the direction of Severus and taking a gulp from her own bottle. “I’ve been trying to figure out what this is all about and all I can come up with is they decided to adopt a dog. I mean they just came back to the city, like three months ago and look at this place, it’s basically puppy proofed.”  
Lily shrugged, taking another large gulp when she noticed Severus staring at her, “I always pictured Frank as more of a bird person. This place is basically a jungle anyways.”  
She batted a fern away from her face as it had inched closer to her due to a man she faintly recognized, accidentally bumping the table the plant was sitting on as he maneuvered his face to them. She glanced at Marlene who had her eyes narrowed at the man as he came to a stop in front of them. Lily watched him as he frowned at her, a worry line appearing in his forehead  
“You look a little pale,” he reached forward and touched the back of his hand to Lily’s forehead making her flinch as she looked at him, her eyes wide, “I think you’re suffering from a deficiency of Vitamin Me.” His mouth stretched into a flirtatious smile as she continued to stare at him. The man’s hand dropped from her forehead and was instead extended towards her. “Evan Rosier.”  
Lily blinked, taking him in for a moment. His blond hair was chin length and wavy in a way that was decidedly feminine. His features were delicate and he had the bearing of the boys that she had gone to boarding school with, cocky as fuck.  
“That would have been smooth if I hadn’t just watched you trip over a table,” she replied, looking away from him pointedly.  
“Nobody’s perfect, love,” he retorted, dropping his hand.  
“Call me ‘love’ one more time and I will castrate you.”  
She was saved from any more conversation by someone yelling and the shift in the people as they all turned towards where Frank and Alice were standing on a table. Frank had his arm around Alice who was blushing and looking around at them with a barely there smile. Lily stood with Marlene to see better and didn’t bother saying goodbye to Evan as they walked past him.  
“It’s so good to see all of you here!” Frank was beaming as he looked at all the people and Lily watched as he looked at Alice who seemed to be glowing. “I guess we should tell you why we have asked you all to come tonight.”  
“I’m pregnant!” Alice blurted out, turning pink as the room dissolves in excited chatter and whistles.  
Lily could see it, the pregnancy glow that had gathering around some of her college friends. The one that was like a thick cloud of happy hormones and made Lily have those twinges in her chest. She turned and waded through the people, grabbing another beer as she passed a table before turning to look for her coat. It appeared attached to a certain black haired man.  
“Lily,” he started but in an instant she was past him, jacket clutched to her chest as she walked straight to Marlene who was standing by the front door, “Lily, wait!”  
Lily glanced back at him once before darting past Marlene into the hallway.  
Not today, Severus, especially not today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not in any way own any of these characters though they have been tweaked to fit into my story line.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The One With The Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter took sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long to write so please enjoy

“Sirius, what the actual fuck are you wearing?” James stared at him from where the taller man is sprawled out on the couch, his glasses slipping down his nose making him push them back up absentmindedly. “You look like sex. It’s like oozing off of you.”

Sirius looked down at himself and frowned. His favorite jeans that he had torn across the thighs, his favorite leather jacket with pins on the lapels that he had started collecting on his thrift store runs, a red Weird Sisters shirt that hugged his chest comfortably, and the boots he wore every day. He looked back up at James and smirked, “Why thank you kind sir,” he bent in a mock bow to his friend, “Hopefully my date thinks the same.”

Sirius had come home from his excursion to the coffee shop just as James had gotten home from his job at The Order, a fancy restaurant that catered mainly to people with adventurous taste palettes, which meant he had sat on the coffee shop floor with Remus for hours. 

James had immediately produced a bag of take out from the restaurant that his boss, an eccentric man named Albus, had given him to take with him. As the two had sat on their lumpy couch and watched late night television on low, Sirius had told James about Remus in low tones as he stared at what was apparently noodles. James’s eyes had watched him through his rounded Ray Band glasses and sweatpants that made him look like Urban Outfitters had thrown up on him, in Sirius’s oh-so-humble opinion, and quietly ate his noodles.

“Sounds like you really like this bloke,” James had commented, tilting his head thoughtfully though the effect was damped by the fact that he had noodles hanging out of his mouth. The comment reminded Sirius of the first time he had mentioned his sexuality to James. It had been an accident, a blip pronouns that had left James pausing briefly before continuing with the conversation while Sirius turned sheet white, his voice lost. Trying to explain himself later had only gotten him a, “Padfoot, I’ve known for years,” and one of James’s wide smiles.  
Sirius had frowned and looked down at his own noodles, “Yeah, he’s nice.” He looked up at his best mate and grinned, “I bet he’s a great fuck too.” James had given him a look Sirius saw rarely, one that made him feel guilty for reasons he didn’t like to think about. 

“You should probably stop staring at Rainbow Werewolf and go,” James’s voice made Sirius blink and he looked away from the hideous painting and at the other man. James waved at him dismissively, “Shoo, I have a whole season of Game of Thrones marathoning to do. Fucking Dirk keeps texting me memes that I can’t look at because I’m behind. Little shit.” This last part was muttered into the top of the noodle container as Sirius grabbed his motorcycle keys and slipping out into the dingy hall outside their apartment, a helmet under his arm.   
He took the stairs, his hurried footsteps mirroring the pace of his heart rate. He didn’t really understand why it was doing that, beating so hard it made his gut twinge the same way it had before a rugby game back at academy. Maybe it was because, for once, he had met someone who looked at him with interest instead of lust; someone who had returned his banter with a mischievous twinkle in his eye that had made Sirius want to kiss him right there. 

Sirius found his bike in the alley between their building and another that was resident to a moderately sketchy convenience store. When he straddled the vehicle he sighed, affectionately rubbing the shiny black of its exterior before sliding his key into the ignition and starting the engine. The roar of the engine made him grin as he tied back the long strands of his hair. The bike had been the most expensive thing he had bought when he had arrived in the States, a splurge of the money he had been hoarding ever since the idea of escaping had crossed his mind.  
Another minute and he was on the road, easing his bike through traffic towards the outskirts of the borough where a small Italian restaurant was tucked into the bottom floor of a brownstone. The entrance was half hidden by a collection of potted bushes and a metal fence that surrounded the few outdoor tables Sirius knew were placed there.   
As he pulled into a parking space across the street he could see that Remus was already standing outside the metal gate that was propped open. He raised a hand in greeting before killing the engine and dismounting, making quick work of securing his helmet before half running across the street. 

“Mr. Lupin,” Sirius said, stepping on the sidewalk and watching the taller man straighten from where he was leaning against the fence. A quick scan proved to be rewarding as the jeans that Remus had on hugged all the right places and the sweater with the sleeves pushed up on his forearms made Sirius smile.

“What?” Remus asked, a small frown on his face as he reached up subconsciously to push up glasses that weren’t there, “I look ridiculous, don’t I?” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and seemed to be trying to look anywhere but at Sirius.

“Quite the opposite, really,” Sirius replied casually, pulling the hair tie from his ponytail, running a hand through his hair quickly before looking at Remus who had finally looked at his face, “You look dashing.” He moved closer until he was right in front of Remus whose cheeks had a pink tinge to them before smiling. “Let’s go inside.”

Sirius led the way inside and was greeted by a tall brunette who smiled at him flirtatiously until he casually moved his hand to rest against Remus’s back as they were led to their reservation. He could sense her disappointment as she set the menus on the table and left the two of them alone but he couldn’t have cared less when he sat across from a still pink Remus.  
Their table was in the back of the small restaurant giving them some privacy from the few patrons who were chatting excitably towards the front. Sirius’s hands itched for his camera as the soft lighting on Remus’s face cast shadows across the planes of his face, especially those cheekbones. 

“How did you find this place?” 

Sirius moved his eyes from where he was watching a subtle twitch in Remus’s jaw to eyes that couldn’t quite meet his own. Again he wished for his camera.  
“My best mate and I found it when we were nursing terrible hangovers and James, being the strange one that he is, wanted meatballs,” Sirius replied, smiling at the memory of his friend telling the waiter all they wanted was a platter of meatballs. 

“He sounds like a handful,” Remus replied as a waiter came over to their table. They ended up just ordering a few appetizers, a coke for Sirius and a cup of coffee for Remus. When the waiter left again, Sirius looked at Remus who was looking at the table and fidgeting with the sleeves of his sweater.

“So, no glasses?” Sirius asked, drawing the other man’s attention to him again. He smirked when Remus’s cheeks flushed pink again, those eyes narrowing on him. Sirius didn’t know what Remus was looking for but whatever it was, it made the tension from Remus’s shoulders loosen a little as the taller man leaned back against the cushion of the booth.   
A thin shoulder lifted in a shrug, “I have contacts too but I usually only wearing them for special occasions.”

Sirius felt the corner of his mouth turn up in a smirk, “Is that so?” 

The other man rolled his eyes though the edge of a smile was on his lips. Sirius’s eyes focused on them briefly before slowly moving across the edge of Remus’s jaw as he looked away at the other patrons in the restaurant.

“What do you do?” Remus asked, startling Sirius from his not-so-blatant staring, “For a living, that is.” The other man added quickly, clearing his throat.

Sirius chuckled, leaning forward on his arms as he answered, “I take pictures and sell prints online.”   
“Oh,” Remus frowned at his hands, “So the picture of me…?” 

“Will stay in my private collection,” Sirius finished, thanking the waiter with a nod when he set their drinks on the table, sipping through the straw. He had added Remus’s picture to his wall that morning, pinning it up next to candid pictures of James and their old mate, Peter from their Academy days. He was still debating whether to move it.

Remus looked at him with his head tilted to the side and a look that made Sirius shift in his seat. “What about you? What does Mr. Remus Lupin do for a living?”

There was a pause before, “I write books. I’m working on the last book of a trilogy, actually.”

“Really now? What’s it about?”

Remus shifted in his seat, stirring his coffee with his spoon as he replied, “It’s about a boy who gets bitten by a werewolf in a world where being a werewolf means you’re nothing.”

Sirius nodded, leaning forward as Remus’s voice got softer. “What happens to him?”

Remus reached up and ran a hand through his hair, “Um, well, a lot of things actually. He leaves his family and wanders until an old friend offers him a job at a camp near the woods where he can go during full moons...,” he trailed off, shaking his head. “It’s just a rough draft. I’ll probably end up rewriting most of it anyways.”

“No, it sounds good. I don’t read a lot of novels or anything so I can’t really make much of a comparison but it sounds interesting,” Sirius replied, sipping more of his drink.

He watched Remus look at him again, a small frown on his face. “You don’t read?”

Sirius sat up straight, lifting a shoulder in a shrug, “I read, just not a lot.”

“Do you have a favorite book then?”

Sirius paused, pushing his empty cup away toward the edge of the table. “Book? The only book I have actually managed to finish is Les Misérables though it took me most of my Academy years.”

Remus chuckled. “So out of all the books you could have read, you chose a fourteen hundred page book full of misery and death? Why not Green Eggs and Ham or that one book about the mouse?”

“I’m more of an all or nothing kind of guy,” Sirius replied, winking at Remus who seemed too shocked to blush. In truth, his mother hadn’t let them have such “rubbish” books. Instead they read original Grimm faerie tales and and Dickens classics as children. The only reason he had even touched the copy of Les Misérables was because it had been a gift from his brother.   
It was dark and the city full of life when Sirius led Remus from the restaurant. Sirius listened intently as the other man reveled in a tale of an adventure him and his best friend had been on and Sirius was reminded of his own academy days. Between James and his girlfriends (and there had been a lot), Peter and his marijuana plants (which they had surprisingly not gotten caught with), and Sirius’s numerous problems, their years had been filled with events worthy of a TV series.   
\-------------------------`````-------------------------  
“…and then Lily goes up to this guy and just punches him in the face. I saw him the next day and his whole eye was bruised. Apparently he had been telling people some bullshit story rather than admit he had been harassing a girl. Anyways, we’ve been friends ever since,” Remus turned to look at him, the height difference making Sirius have to tilt his head up slightly.

“She sounds feisty,” Sirius quipped, stopping on the sidewalk, “And mildly terrifying.” In all honesty, she reminded Sirius of his cousin Andi before she married that clean energy guru, Tim Tanks or something.

Remus threw his head back and laughed, his smile wide enough to where Sirius could just make out the indents of dimples in his cheeks. Sirius had been with plenty of people, and he wasn’t ashamed of it, but none of them had ever made his pulse quicken like his did in that moment. 

“Yes,” Remus agreed, “Lily takes no bullshit from anyone but her friend Marlene is even worse.” 

They had begun to walk again, their destination not quite clear except for Remus’s vague comment that he lived over this way. Sirius turned his head as they walked so he could hear Remus’s softer voice better. An auditory processing disorder that had gone undiagnosed when he was a child had been the root of many of the more negative events in his life.

“Marlene just came back from serving her third term as a Marine, so don’t know her that well, but I do know that she swears a lot when she’s angry and honestly, it’s terrifying,” Remus paused and shook his head, “Especially when all you did was win Monopoly.”

Sirius narrowed his eyes, “Ah, so you’re one of those people.”

“What do you mean ‘one of those people’?” the taller man crossed his arms defensively, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. 

“I mean one of those people who tricks people into playing Monopoly with them and then sweeps the board with their opponents.”

A dramatic gasp from Remus made the shorter man smile. “I would never.”

Sirius stepped closer to the other man. “I would just like to say that I am very good at playing Monopoly.”

An eyebrow arched, “Is that so?”

“Mhmm,” came the reply as Sirius leaned in for the kiss that could lead to many other doors he would gladly open. However, instead of lips he met a faintly stubble covered cheek making him pull back in surprise. Remus just looked at him with a crooked smile as he backed up into the front yard of what Sirius realized must be his home.

“Good night, Sirius Black,” The taller man wiggled his fingers in a goodbye to Sirius who was still standing on the sidewalk. 

“Good night, Remus Lupin,” He whispered into the night after the front door had opened and then closed again before turning and trudging back to his motorcycle, confused but completely intrigued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own harry potter otherwise i would be filthy rich and it would be awesome


End file.
